Provisional Defense Force
The Military arm of the Royal Protectorate of Tampico . History 2167-2185 In the year 2167 as the British troops swept ashore during the great, Reclamation of Tampico the ships commander Rear Admiral George St. Clair looked upon the new Royal Dominion he and his mates had helped to found and realized that there would be many in the wasteland who would want what they had, the resources, the weaponry and the food. He realized that the new Royal Protectorate of Tampico was going to need a force that could defend itself and spread the Protectorate's influence also. Thus the Provisional Defense Force was created, by bringing together the HMS Princess of Lisbon's Royal Marine contingent along with a few hundred sailors and volunteered civilians the PDF got its start. Admiral St. Clair ordered the new civilian and sailors to be trained by the Royal Marines while he and several other officers began to look over the growing civilian population for sources of recruits. A few months later as the new soldiers completed their training and began to be formed into platoons, companies and battalions (with the numbers adjusted to support a vastly lower population) Admiral St. Clair had already looked over the local population and decided that to raise any kind of unit from these folk was plausible and likely a good idea, he also outlined how to raise a "Yank Brigade" of mercenaries with the purpose of serving king and country. But duty called quicker than expected as the Royal Protectorate faced its first major threat, a group of vicious Cuban Buccaneers out to raid the port of Tampico for the goods and riches it supposedly held. Unbeknownst to the pirates the PDF had already been alerted to their presence and thus were prepared. As the pirates came racing towards the town out of the jungle the PDF were prepared, using a combination of the mortars they had from aboard the ship, concentrated gunfire and support from the Lisbon's guns the pirates were driven off leaving most of their numbers dead on the field. As the pirates reached their vessel to escape the area they watched in horror as several heavily armed "cruiser" used by the Provisional Navy in fact nothing more than several Trawlers that had been up armored and armed with a vast array of weaponry, most of it salvaged from the planes and weapon's systems no longer deemed necessary from the Lisbon. With the remaining pirates captured and their first victory under their belt the PDF began to expand taking back huge swaths of Tampico and of course doing what the British do best, organizing and fortifying. Using bricks from destroyed buildings and also those made by the locals the PDF built a massive brick wall around the perimeter of Tampico finished off with a layer of concrete over the bricks. This walls quickly became the Protectorate's main line of defense from the horror's of the wasteland. But soon the job of the PDF went from defending to expanding the control of the Protectorate. 2185-2210 In the years following the construction of the "Tampico Wall" as it came to be known Admiral St. clair led the PDF on several campaigns to "tame" the wilds of the Saltlands. The Saltalnds inhabited by tribes of vicious mutants and tribals were also some of the most mineral risch regions in the whole of Tamaulipas. Under the command of Admiral St. Clair an offensive into the Saltlands was planned, code named Operation Yellow Jacket the plan called for the 1st Royal Tampico Fusiliers (approx. 200 men) to sweep through the northern most region of the Saltlands, pacifying or destroying any tribes that came into their way. Meanwhile the Royal Tampico Yeomanry made up of local recruits would along with the 2nd Royal Grenadiers and Highlander Battalion to hit the central most region with the full brunt of the attack, driving back whatever resistance they encountered. The operation began a week later, the 1st Fusiliers were at first successful in their attack encountering only light resistance from the local tribes and raider gangs. However they slowly began to feel the distance they had to travel as their supply lines grew thinner and thinner as they pushed onward into the Saltalnds. Meanwhile the main offensive almost immediately encountered resistance from a brutal group of tribals calling themselves La Hermandad de Sangre. These vicious group of bandits weren't to keen on standing an fighting, prefering to do hit and run raids, ambushes and all other notable forms of Guerrilla Warfare. The Royal forces were slowly being whittled away by the bandits and slowly the public's opinion along with that of the Parliament began to turn against the war. Although the PDF was taking ground and raking up the higher kill to death ratio yet La Hermandad de Sangre was simply too sly to be beaten in one battle, you kill three and they come back with five the people liked them for protecting their native land from the "Imperialist dogs". This view of the PDF and the Royal Protectorate as a whole stemmed mostly from Admiral St. Clair's treatment of the locals, those he defeated he had rounded up, surrounded in barb wire and basically starved to death. This was done over and over again across the Saltlands to the point where the landscape was dotted by small concentration camps filled with starving, sick and dying tribals. Eventually Admiral St. Clair was forced to fall back into the Dominion, however one unit was unaccounted for the 1st Royal Tampico Fusiliers. This unit had become entrapped within the Saltlands and was surrounded by angry, snarling natives. The unit's commander was dead and a knew one had shown his face in the heat of battle Major Monty Comstock III this big nosed, stiff upper lipped commander of the 1st was not the least bit concerned by his predicament and quickly directed his forces in a massive break out movement, leaving hundreds of the tribals and mutants dead and being praised as the most ingenious military attack since Arthur Wellesley's victory at the Battle of Waterloo. The best part was most of the unit made it out of the region alive thanks to the ingenious leadership skills of Major Comstock and when he was asked about his victory by the current Prime Minister he said, "We attacked in the same old way and we defeated the sods in the same old bloody way". However for the rest of the Protectorate there were more important matters on the rise. The locals of Tampico had begun to demand equal representation within the nations government, and as the government denied them this right the people became restless and soon there were protests and riots in the street. Fearing that they would escalate to full on violence Admiral St. Clair was ordered to send units to control the protests, however this proved futile as the Yeomanry that Admiral St. Clair deployed simply refused to do their job and in several cases rose up against their superiors, St. Clair never a fan of the locals but seeing that the Protectorate he and his men had fought hard to create and protect now was on the verge of falling into bloody anarchy and began to urge the government to reconsider its decision. Elsewhere the PDF began operations against the local bandit and raider organizations that dominated the border regions of Tampico. Soon most of these groups had either been completely defeated or sent into hiding by the efforts of the PDF. 2210-2230 Despite the threat of internal strife, luckily put to an end by the Compromise the objectives of the PDF never changed. Rebuilt after its last campaign against the tribals of the Saltalnds. The PDF prepared again for another offensive only this time with smaller goals then before. Operation Wellington, Admiral St. Clair's newest operation called for the same thing, the Fusiliers supported by the Yank Brigade made up of foreign mercenaries most notably a unit of elite ex-military mercenaries known as The Damned, Were to accompany the Fusiliers on a small flanking maneuver of the small sliver of land the Protectorate hoped to gain in the offensive. This was to be done in tandem with the Grenadiers, Guards and Highlanders bull charging along a main line of attack straight to the objective, a mountainous and easily fortified ridge that was to serve as their primary base of operations in future offensives. The offensive launched several days after the last of the troops moved into line and much to Admiral St. Clair's surprise the tribals within the area of attack either fought a very brief and meek fight or hardly fought at all. None the less the PDF took the ridge and began to dig in, meanwhile PDF troops began to round up the natives within the captured territory and place them in Internment Camps for holding until they were cleared to re-enter society. However just as they were celebrating their victory there was a cry from help from within the Dominion. It seemed that the outlying settlements outside of Tampico had came under attack from a vicious group of raider and required a good force to track down and defeat, a task that the PDF quickly completed. Ambitious and feeling high and mighty after coming off two great victories that allowed the Protectorate to expand its boundaries Admiral St. Clair began planning yet another offensive into the Saltlands to capture more land. Soon there were settlements popping up throughout the region that the PDF had captured and thus gave St. Clair a grand sense of accomplishment. However there were more pressing matters to attend to, according to his medical staff there had been some sort of mass outbreak of disease among the tribals that had been decimating their numbers and according to a few scouting parties was currently ravaging the villages of the other tribes spread about in the Saltlands. Seizing upon the moment of weakness St. Clair quickly formed together the Fusiliers and the Yeomanry and attacked into the Saltalnds over running several weakened tribes and taking a whole swath of land along the Dominion's border. Upon analysis of the corpses of the sick the soldiers found in the villages the medical staff discovered that the people were dying from a mutated version of Yellow Fever. However what concerned them was that the disease didn't seem to have been effected by the radiation but rather by artificial means, this prompted Admiral St. Clair to order all his men serving around the sick folk and out in the field to wear Chemical warfare equipment to avoid infection. With this order in place St. Clair began to plan his next move from his massive fortress constructed atop the ridge and pin pointed the target of his next offensive an old oil field from before the war. However another threat presented themselves a vast tribe of fierce warriors descended from the Aztec. Las Aztecas as they called themselves, they were a tribe that spanned most of Saltlands and even parts of the Distrio Capital and they planned to add The dominion to their growing empire. But St. Clair wasn't the type to sit back and wait ot be attacked he fully intended to head off the Aztecas and hit them fast and hard. Using all available forces at his disposal he through everything at the Aztecas in hope of a decisive victory. Instead he got a bloody battle that cut up the PDF forces to a shriveled shell of their former numbers however the Aztecas were beaten back at least for the time being. Meanwhile St. Clair rallied his forces and slowly began to rebuild his forces, recruiting from the local populace. As the PDF was rebuilding there was an attempt made on St. Clair's life, as he and his staff sat at Britannia Ridge (the ridge they had taken in their second offensive) going through paper work a group of men dressed as tribals slipped through the defenses and snuck up to the HQ building with St. Clair and his staff pouring over maps they hardly noticed his sentries go silent. When suddenly the men rushed into the room, armed with hatchets and pistols the officers and the intruders began to duel. St. Clair and several others jumped atop the map table and using their service pistols (St. Clair liked his Browning High Power) and gunned down several of the intruders before he was tackled by one and after a brief grapple managed to over power the man and kill him. Other soldiers quickly rushed into the building, helping the officers and St. Clair overpower the intruders. This would become quite the story in his biography. However after this narrow escape from death St. Clair began to feel his age and promptly retired as commander of the PDF in 2227, instead he joined the Parliament serving as a statesman for the Right-Wing Dominion Party advising its party members on how to go forward with their political agenda. However despite his own political positioning, something he was soon to shirk he was regarded as a respectable man all around from his compatriots on both sides of the political spectrum and continued to serve in the Parliament with dignity until his retirement years later. 2230-2260 After Admiral St. Clair's retirment in 2227 the command position was taken over by Field Marshal Monty Comstock III. This brave, agressive albeit a bit egotisitcal man would lead the PDF on several successful forays into the Saltlands gaining several tracts of land for farming and even overseeing the creation of the PDF's first armored unit. Having seen designs and pictures for the old Mark IV "Female" tanks the PDF contructed several tanks modeled after these ancient machines and created a very effective combat unit, known as the "Catepillar" Platoon that would go on to serve with great distinction. However hard times were brewing within the RPT, the local Hispanic population having been oppressed for years finally snapped and led by a revolutionary named Jorge Cruces their revolution spread across the land. Soon even the PDF was infected with this revolutionary fervor and much to the command's dismay the Royal Tampico Yeomanry overthrew their commanders and promptly killed most of the white officers in the regiment. They then rushed into the command post on Britannia Ridge and began a fierce day long melee with the troops posted there that led to heavy losses. Monty feeling that he was to be the last commander of the PDF took out his broadsword and pistol and prepared to defend his command post, however the rebelling Yeomanry avoided his CP since Monty had always treated the Yeomanry and other native troops with respect. However as the dust settled, the gunfire faded and the troops looked upon their once powerful fortress now twice ravaged by outsiders, this set most of their blood to boil. As troops cleaned up the base Monty led a detachment of Guards to Tampico where the rebels were staging several offensives into the city, he attacked into their backs and in the melee and combat managed to butcher something like 123 rebels. This broke up their offensives for a time but they soon returned and with Monty having to deploy his forces to several locations at once along with keeping the rioting and looting within Tampico under control the rebels only had to struggle for a time as they broke through their defenses. The next three weeks were dominated by heavy combat between the PDF and rebels as Monty desperately tried to block the rebel's advance into the city but ultimatley it failed. Meanwhile his counterpart George St. Clair was trying to convince the Parliament to change their policies on the locals and yet this seemed doomed to fail as the Parliament became adamant about not giving in to the rebels, and as the Lords called him "That Goddamned Socialist!". Meanwhile on the battlefield things went from bad to worse as even the lower class whites began to join in with Cruce's forces. The PDF fighting themselves down to the last man eventually collapsed under the pressure of rebel forces. Monty, three days after the PDF's collapse took out his Colt Navy Revolver and commited suicide, having viewed himself as a failure for not being able to defend the Protectorate. With his death one of the PDF's most talented commanders was now dead. Organization and Tactics Weaponry and Equipment Provisional Army 1st Royal Tampico Fusiliers Of the 800 Royal Marines and sailors that were formed into military units by Admiral St. Clair most were folded into the 1st Royal Fusiliers. The Fusiliers are essentially the back bone of the PDF, with 600 of the 800 Royal Marines in the service under its flag they essentially dominate the PDF as the strongest and the most powerful unit. Likewise they usually lead the charges into enemy territory and often take the heaviest casualties, however they are more than up to whatever task the Prime Minister or Parliament gives to them. Armed with everything from Howitzers and mortars to assault rifles and light machine guns these boys are tough and quite good at their jobs of being the Royal Protectorate's frontline soldiers. Royal Tampico Yeomanry This particular unit of men are primarily made up of local recruits. These men are some what sub-par in terms of training and combat ability when compared to the Fusiliers, Guards, Grenadiers and Highlanders made up of 250 volunteers from the local populace these men aren't given the same sort of uniforms the other units have but are instead armed with equipment recovered from the old Mexican Army depots throughout the area. They are armed with a grab bag of weaponry and usually are led by their English overlords, going from as high as the regimental commander to the lowly sergeants. Naturally this is the cause for a great deal of discontent but after several revolts from communist, fascist and just angry locals the British have more than enough reason to suspect a unit completely comprised of locals. However these men realized the mistakes of their forefathers and work everyday to reverse those beliefs of their commanders, perhaps if they were given some autonomy by their government they could prove themselves worthy in battle but until than the local Yeomanry will be forced to fight in a very restricted role. Royal Volunteer Highlanders These rough and tumble men are volunteers from the various tribes, towns and villages that dot the Highlands. Tough, resilient and as all Highlanders should be massive man-mountains. These men were recruited by officers and other diplomats sent into the wilds to raise native regiments, these men were than brought back to the Dominion to be trained by the PDF to be their heavy infantry. These men armed with the PDF's trademark L85 assault rifles are also given the infamous and deadly Scottish broadswords that Highlanders back in England actually used. These men are usually seen at the front of the advances charging the enemy and overwhelming them with their sheer numbers and deadly swordsmanship, even if they don't wear kilts and play the bagpipe these men are considered some of the most respected men within the PDF since they are the ones who soak up the most bullets and take a heaping aount of casualties. But when it comes to winning these men are 0-10, they have the fiercest reputation and are likely the only unit in the PDF which will make an of the Aztecas wet themselves, them and the Grenadiers that is. 2nd Royal Tampico Grenadiers This regiment is reserved for those soldiers that are basically the biggest and the toughest of the PDD. These men lead charges, armed with their L85s and grenades these tough bastards can be found plowing through enemy defensive lines, charging across battlefields screaming like a bunch of mad men and mowing down the enemy as they make a desperate attempt to defend themselves from the onslaught of the massive soldiers. 3rd Royal Tampico Guards The 3rd Tampico Guards are the elite handpicked men, chosen specially for the guarding and protection of Tampico from the outside world. Their job is a tough one as the various factions that live outside the walls that surround the city tend to be hostile, ravenous tribals or blood thirsty raiders. Thus the men selected for the Guards have to pass a certain test, first a test of their physical capabilities then each volunteer is brought to be seen by a shrink to evaluate their mental state and to tell if they'd be willing to do what it takes to defend the Protectorate. The idea being that the test is meant to tell if the soldier has the mental capacity to do unspeakable things in the name of the Protectorate and not have any sort of adverse mental effects. To this end many of the candidates fail and yet a precious few of the volunteers take this test to pass through and fill out the ranks of the 3rd Tampico Guards. Parliament Guard This special detachment of the 3rd is meant to act as the sole protectors of the parliament and the Prime Minister. These men provide security for the Prime Minister and Parliament when they are meeting and when the Prime Minister is in public. However outside of these dutes they are mostly a ceremonial service. 4th Yorkshire Sappers This unit was simply formed out of necessity for a unit of dedicated combat engineers to help construct fortifications, bridges and other installations. They took some of the naval engineers that the ''Princess of Lisbon ''had aboard it, added some volunteers from the Fusiliers and some local conscripts then equip them with some pre-war construction equipment they had created the 4th Yorkshire Sappers, named after the home region of their commander. However the 4th has had a much more colorful history other than just engineers. They act as support forces for combat troops, armoring their bulldozers, mounting weapons on them and using them to fight through enemy defenses and obstacles. Often times these men are seen leading troop movements and charges with their mine sweepers and flamethrowers removing enemy explosives and obstacles along with clearing out bunkers, trenches and any other fortified positions. However these men have also had their fair amount of travesties go on under them, they helped construct Fort Comstock which in itself a travesty, along with burning down villages full of unarmed civilians in an attempt to remove guerrillas from attacking their work sites. However the soldiers are a tough bunch and for the most part honest troopers. Yank Brigade See The Damned. Special Forces Rodney's Rangers These tough commandos in the service of their commander, Captain Rodney Anderson are the shock troops of almost every attack made by the PDF on any target that has more than a few dozen soldiers manning the gates. These men armed with the best that the PDF has to offer are usually given the job of charging the defenses of an enemy position after they had been softened up by the pre-attack bombardment. They go into battle sometimes with no more send off than a quiet drop of the hand from their commander, other times they charge into battle amid blowing whistles, and the blare of bagpipes both of these tactics are usually enough to scare the crap out of any enemy fighter and thus usually leads to rather easy victory. however with the rise of the Aztecs the Rangers have been given a new job of making wide flanking moves around the tribals in order to attack supply bases and ambush troop movements. Naval Special Attack Squadron These tough bastards are hand selected soldiers from the ranks of the regular troops and promptly trained to become some of the most elite warriors the PDF have at their disposal. These men are specially trained for naval assaults and raids mostly known for going up and down the coast of the Saltlands and raiding tribal villages, spreading black propaganda and generally just causing mayhem for the enemies of the Protectorate. However their jobs aren't confined to the sea as they will be deployed on land albeit in small numbers. On more than one occasion soldiers from the NSAS have been deployed to help contain prison riots at Fort Comstock and hit enemy encampments deep in the mountains or salt flats. Royal Intelligence Bases and Facilities Royal Correctional Facility This imposing facility easily spotted along the coast near Tampico is one of the harshest and cruelest prisons ever built by the Protectorate. It is a massive and imposing brick building along the coast that is partially built into the cliff. Within is a massive open area that is the prison yard, lining the walls however are cell after cell after cell going all the way up to the guard catwalks near the top of the cliff. Each cell contains a bound and gagged prisoner whose cell is hung on rails built into the ceiling, these cells having not catwalks leading to the to allow prisoners out can only be moved by a crane operated on a tower in one end of the yard. This is done due to the volatility of the prisoners kept here, hence why there is so few cells actually in the prison itself (only lone layer) the prisoners here are lifers or just waiting for their execution, this is where the RPT sends it's most violent prisoners, killers, rapists, bandits, etc. If an execution is in order the guards simply take him to the lower levels, past the guard barracks and to the execution level, its a rather basic level a large empty room meant to be used for firing squads, hangings and even a crude electric chair, then there is the cliff. The most used form of execution (less likely to blow a fuse or waste expensive ammo), the method is simple they take him to the open door that empties out to the rocks and violent surf below and you push, its actually viewed as a joke to see how fast a prisoner can fall, if he splatters or are impaled on the rocks below. The prison is constantly checked on by the PDF and has its own Special Forces response team just in case of a prison riot, of course if the riot gets out of control the guards simply detonate charges attached to the struts sending the whole structure into the sea below. Category:Groups Category:Mexico Category:Tamaulipas